Birthdays
by Blonde Panther
Summary: Post-FE13. Laurent and Lucina belatedly have dinner for Lucina's birthday. However, two things weigh on Laurent's mind as they sit down, one more heavily than the other... and Lucina has a little surprise for him, too.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening, Lucina, or Laurent. Everything you recognise belongs to Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.**  
Characters: **Lucina, Laurent.**  
Pairings: **Lucina/Laurent. To make them, Chrom/Robin and Miriel/Frederick are assumed.**  
_Author's Notes:_** _I might still make this at the very last moment. I know it's customary to draw, not write, silly little things for stuff like character birthdays, but as one of my favourite pairings, how could I pass this up upon realising that Lucina and Laurent's birthdays are only five days apart? This episode of BP writes silly things was very much a rush job, so not one of my best works, but enjoy none the less._

* * *

_**Birthdays**_

Laurent sat straight, stretching his back. It hurt from having sat hunched over for so long, refining his notes on his travels and the things he had seen; ranging from mundane to marvelous. His was a hobby and ambition that was undoubtedly admirable or at least respectable, and perhaps it was almost time to start work on the first volume of his narrative journal.

Still, something bothered him. What he had here was only the second batch of notes and further. The first batch, on how he and his companion had set out from Ylisse to wander the continents following the Shepherds's victory over Grima, had been missing for a few days now. It was honestly quite distressing. He had worked so hard on them, organizing them and arranging them in such a way he could make something coherent of them. To have all that work missing… he knew he hadn't misplaced them, he never misplaced things. But who would steal them? What was there to be gained from his notes?

"Hey, Laurent?" he looked up as his companion walked in. She was fully dressed, but still busy rubbing her hair dry with a towel. "You can have the bath if you want. I'm done with it."

"I'm fine," he said, turning in his chair so he could look at her. "I bathed before breakfast."

"How _do_ you manage to be that awake that early in the morning…" Lucina muttered, finally turning around and tossing the towel back into the bathroom that had come with their inn room. "Inn staff can clean that up," she muttered, walking over to their bed and taking the hair brush that was on it. "Are you ready, then?"

"Merely waiting for you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes," she said. "The woman is taking forever to get ready for the date. We get it, Laurent." But she smiled as she said it and started to fight with the tangles she'd made as she'd rubbed her hair dry. "I just need to get my hair in order and we'll be good to go. Be a dear and get my coin purse, would you?"

Nodding, Laurent got up, reaching for the small leather pouch on the corner of the desk. Lucina's birthday had been earlier this week, but they hadn't been in a proper position to celebrate at the time. It was awfully hard to sit down and have a civilized, let alone romantic, dinner when you were surrounded by bandits looking to cut your head off. But back in the village they had protected by sending those very bandits running, Lucina had told him she'd found an inn with an appetizing menu and reasonable prices, and asked if he wanted to eat there with her. Laurent didn't know why they hadn't done so last night, but Lucina had insisted on doing it today.

He gave her the pouch and watched as she reached for another, larger satchel that he hadn't seen before. "Lucina," he said, chuckling, "We only have to descend the stairwell. The luggage is entirely unnecessary."

"I do need to bring this," Lucina insisted. "Let's go, Laurent." She hooked her free arm in his, leading him out of the room and down the stairs. He didn't mind letting her lead. He'd always been a bit more shy than her, and she was used to being in a leading role, so she was comfortable with it. Once downstairs and in the dining area, she picked a table right next to one of the windows, where they sat down to consult the menu. She placed her satchel down next to her chair inconspicuously, but Laurent found his gaze drawn to it regardless. What was in it, and why had she insisted on bringing it with her?

"I think I'll have the special," Lucina muttered to herself, nodding in confirmation and repeating more clearly. "Yeah. The chef's special." Laurent took the hint, getting up and walking towards the counter to place their order. As he waited for it, he stuck one hand into his pocket and fiddled with the small box in it. He hoped he'd done it right. She… liked rubies, right? More than diamonds… Even though diamonds were more valuable… but monetary value was no object in their relationship. If she were to petition Ylisstol, Exalt Chrom would give her anything she wished for. In that regard, Laurent couldn't compete with her natural family.

But maybe he could offer her something else, something undying, something less… perishable than material wealth. He jolted back to attention, jerking his hand out of his pocket, when the staff member talked to him and gave him two plates. Their meals. Taking a deep breath so he wouldn't shake too much, he took them and made his way back to the table. "You're nervous," Lucina observed as he placed her plate down with a less than perfectly steady hand. "Is something the matter?"

"There is… something I must ask you, Lucina." He set down his own plate and sat down to buy himself time. He had to ask her now. It was the perfect moment. Well, perfection was impossible to achieve normally. Too many factors and variables he'd have to manipulate, not to mention that perfection was subjective, and to Lucina it wouldn't be the same as to him. But it was as close to the perfect moment as they would get. "I… appear to have misplaced my notes on the first year of our journey." _Father would be so disappointed._ At the last moment, he had lost his courage, changing the subject.

Lucina smiled sweetly. "That's unlike you," she said. "You don't normally misplace things."

"I… do not. That's why I hoped you might know more about it."

"To tell you the truth…" Lucina mused as she popped a wedge of potato into her mouth. Laurent waited for what felt like an eternity for her to finish it. "I do. I'll show you once we finish eating. Let's talk about something else until then." She winked. Laurent knew enough. She had something planned. Whenever Lucina kept secrets from him, he became a little unsettled. Of course, he trusted Lucina more than anyone else in his life. But the fact remained that she had been born of the blood of the Fell Dragon… every time she gave him one of those sly, 'I-know-something-you-don't' smiles, he feared the worst.

It took all of the restraint his father had taught him to not scoff his meal down, and to keep a conversation going with Lucina. However, he tried again. "There is something else, actually. Lucina… how long have we been together for, now?"

"Um, let me think…" Lucina was horrible at remembering dates, so it didn't surprise Laurent that she didn't recall off-hand when they had gotten together. It wasn't something that had happened on a set minute on a set day, anyway; it was something that had slipped into their friendship over time. "We've been travelling together for about three years now," she finally said, "And I think we got together near the end of the war..? Long enough for me to know you have an ulterior motive in asking, anyway." She picked at her salad and put a large piece of bell pepper off to the side –she hated bell pepper- before looking up at him again. "Out with it, Laurent."

"This… is not easy for me," he confessed. "Give me a moment." He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath, before continuing. "Lucina, I've mentioned before that you are the daughter of Chrom and Robin; through your veins runs the blood of Exalts and heroes." Lucina looked around the room nervously, hoping her identity hadn't been overheard by anyone. It could complicate matters. "I, at best the son of a faithful knight and lauded scholaress, and at worst a simple peasant, cannot hope to be worthy of you."

"I told you," Lucina said. "I don't care about your parentage. And even if I did, Sir Frederick's ridiculously unwavering service to my family would more than make up for your lack of noble birth."

"You recall this conversation, then," Laurent said, relieved. "That simplifies matters. Despite this discrepancy, you've deigned to love me, and to take me as your travelling companion." He watched as she swallowed a leaf of lettuce. He could tell she was intrigued- she'd chewed slowly, and he doubted she even knew what it was she had just swallowed, so focused on him had her gaze been. "Lucina…" he reached into his pocket again, this time pulling the box out and putting it on the table between them, opening it up and placing it down with the contents facing Lucina. "I was hoping you would stoop so low as to take me as your life companion, as well."

Lucina fell silent. It took at least three seconds for her to put down her utensils and reach towards the box, before she could take it up and hold it closer to her face with shaking hands. Still unable to vocalize much of anything, she dislodged one hand from the box and took the small, golden ring, decorated with a single ruby, out of it. "Laurent," she finally stammered. "I…" He reached over, taking the box from her and setting it down, before starting to slowly slide the ring over one of her fingers. She didn't protest, only staring at it. "Of course I will," she finally said. "Laurent, I thought you'd never ask." She leaned forward to kiss him. It was a strange feeling. For all the time they had spent together, they had never kissed or displayed any physical intimacy. But it didn't feel uncomfortable, either. He didn't mind at all.

As he sat back down, Lucina suddenly laughed. "Is… something amusing?" he asked, suddenly fearing that she had played him for a fool.

"No," she said, stifling her laughter. "It's just… this is the most beautiful belated present you could have given me, Laurent. And… well, what I have for you kind of pales in comparison…" She reached down, picking up the satchel.

"For me?" Laurent asked, confused.

"Yes, silly! Today's YOUR birthday, isn't it?" He turned red. Of course. He had gotten so hung up on his resolution to propose to her that he had completely forgotten it was his birthday. When had he forgotten they aged so closely after one another?! Lucina reached into the satchel, finally withdrawing a thick, leather-bound book from it. "Well.. it's not much, but… here." She set the satchel down, and held the book out to him. He took it, wondering if she'd found a rare tome for him, but when he opened up the fine, red leather-bound wooden cover, he saw his own notes; reproduced in chronological order and in a meticulous, gorgeous handwriting in ink of various colours; long and important events in black, his thoughts on them in blue, and notes on how to serialize and novelise them in red in the margins.

"Lucina… this is…"

"I took your notes," she fessed up. "I know how serious you are about this documenting and fictionalizing our travels, so I wanted to save you some work and have a professional scribe make something really nice of the first year." She smiled, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "Besides, when your book becomes a bestseller and you decide you don't want your notes anymore, it could be worth a whole load of gold."

He laughed, shutting the book carefully. It even included a small clasp to keep the parchment pressed together neatly. "Thank you, Lucina," he said then, meaning it with everything he had. "It's beautiful."

"So is this," she said, looking at the ring. "There had better be a side chapter about our wedding in that novel of yours, though."

Laurent chuckled, and this time it was him who leaned forward to kiss Lucina. "It wouldn't be accurate without a recounting of that," he then promised.


End file.
